A super secret high ranked artifact
[Swoosh]
The sounds of rustling leaves enter our ears as we charge through the Etelia forest, heading deeper inside every moment.
By this point, the mana pressure has gotten so strong that even mana beasts are not appearing as often.
In front of me are Lyndis and Zonn, behind me are Jargon and Zalfious. I feel like some sort of president being protected right now because of the formation.
"But Lyndis! You actually managed to control that mysterious power?!"
Says Zonn while turning to Lyndis.
Both of them were busy showing off earlier so me, Zalfious and Jargon didn't even have the chance to step in.
Especially Lyndis, she was hell bent on using the demonic arts and sword skills taught to her, possibly to impress her uncle.
It looks like the dark elves call demonic energy "mysterious power" or something like that. Do they really have no idea what that energy is or how it's meant to be used?
It seems kinda surreal because it's literally ingrained into their bodies as a racial trait. But the evidence in front of me says it all. Maybe their just not as advanced as other dark elf tribes when it comes to using this "mysterious power".
Lyndis shakes her head back to Zonn and replies.
"I didn't control it myself, they taught me how to."
They both look back directly at me and I give a slight wave.
"That's great! Now we have one more warrior within our tribe! Haha!"
"You looked strong earlier! We should have a spar sometime!"
Zonn shouts enthusiastically.
"We'll see if my father will allow that."
Lyndis chuckles and covers her mouth.
Looking at them joke away while running through the forest, their relationship must be very good. I wonder if all dark elves are this closely knit.
Unlike humans who live in big societies, dark elves live together within their own tribe, never leaving even until they reach older.
This is very much a big deal because even though dark elves don't have as long a life-span as elves, they do live for a much longer time than humans.
"But Lyndis, where were you during the time you were gone?"
Ah that's right Lyndis hasn't told him yet. I guess she didn't have the time to from all the conversations we had about the tribe's troubles.
Upon hearing her niece's words, Zonn quickly snapped and made and abrupt stop, causing us to do the same. His eyes narrowed and he clenched both his fists tight whilst gritting his teeth in anger.
"WHAT?! THOSE DAMN BLACK MAGICIANS!"
"I'LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!"
He roared in a thundering voice.
Compared to the angered tone he met us with just now, this declaration was on a whole nother level.
Lyndis grabs Zonn's arm in an attempt to calm him down.
"But I'm fine now thanks to them, so let's continue uncle."
She says while opening a smile.
Zonn let's out a big sigh and pats her niece on the head. A few moments pass and he finally steps away turning his back to face us before walking on.
"Uncle? We sho-"
"No we're here already."
Zonn takes a few more steps forward and raises his arm to touch the air. The air around his hand begins to take on a blueish color and at that moment, the entire atmosphere around us begun to change.
Looks like something resonated with him.
A small gust of wind forms within a five meter radius around us, kicking up the surrounding leaves and twigs plastered all over the ground. They start to ascend, eventually covering our entire view like a capsule.
Seconds pass and the gust speeds up to a tiny gale surrounding us. The only thing we could hear were the rattling of the leaves and twigs and they hit one another while being swirled.
[Whoosh]
The wind, now at full speed suddenly changes its direction for a mere moment before expelling everything that was within it.
"Interesting."
I say while turning towards Zalfious and Jargon to glance at their dumbfounded faces.
Their eyes are wide open. But even so, they never fail to be on guard as both of them are clutching the handles of their weapons.
Looking at the view around us, it's like the entire scenery has transformed. Either that or we've been transported.
The view in front of us, which was a desolate forest filled with tall trees and bushes as far as the eye could see, changed into that of a small village with huts small houses made of wood built beneath and up on the trees.
Vines stretch down from the tall trees like ladders and people were seen doing construction while climbing up and down from them.
We just entered a high ranked illusion array. An insanely high ranked one at that.
Since dark elves don't have a skilled mage capable of producing such a profound array, I presume it's an artifact. It's really high ranked, possibly around upper unique grade.
If it were known to the surrounding kingdoms, they would probably try to get their hands on it no matter what, even if it may mean certain war. That's how valuable an artifact like this is.
To be even able to fool me who is of the grandmaster rank shows that this really isn't your regular artifact. It's even superior to the illusion array guarding the demon realm.
Just then.
"My lord."
Says Zalfious while turning towards me with a concerned face.
I nod calmly and he reciprocates.
In that instant both Zalfious and Jargon turn their gazes to the top of the closest trees and ready their weapons.
Twelve life forces with faint demonic energy surround us.
One in the tree to our left.
Two in the tree to our right.
Four in the tree north-west of us.
Three in the tree north-east of us.
And two in the tree directly ahead.
Looks like they have us all surrounded.
They seem skilled, have they been watching us since we arrived?
"How dare you bring in humans! Captain of the scout team!"
Says the female voice coming from the top of the left tree.
At that moment curious dark elves could be seen piling up in front of us, making a huge crowd shaped like an arc.
"Lower your weapons, guards!"
Says Zonn in an even louder voice than the one who reprimanded him.
From his voice, he sounds as though he's challenging the owner of the voice.
[Swish]
An arrow flew from our north-east.
It's fast and precise. It's target is none other than me.
Whoever shot the arrow had a very high level of skill and had aura imbued into it.
Safe to say, the people who surrounded us should be all aurors as well.
But before the arrow could even hope to land, it was cut apart by a huge great sword.
A clean and accurate cut, straight through the head of the arrow.
The one who cut the arrow is Zonn. He plunges his sword onto the ground and moments later, green energy could be seen emanating from him.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY NIECE'S SAVIOUR!"
His yell spreads quickly throughout the village, causing everyone to close their ears and cower in fear. Most of the curious villagers who came by hastily turned away and ran.
Looks like that shout had some sort of intimidation effect. It truly is amazing to see how many uses aura has.
As the crowd soon cleared away, a figure could be seen descending from the tree to our left.
The figure had a lean but muscular body with long hair.
She made her entrance in a grand way by dropping in front of us while holding a bow with a quiver tied to her back.
She stares at Zonn for a bit before letting out a sigh.
She then moves her gazes towards Lyndis and her jaw visibly drops.
"You...aren't you..."
"What is going on captain of the guards?"
A thin man walked out from behind the woman and greeted us.
He was wearing a huge golden sash with some words inscribed onto it. They look ancient, it may be some secret dark elf language from the past.
As the man gazed our way he stopped and was stunned for words.
Shortly after, he drops to the floor on his knees while pointing towards one of us.
"Lyn...dis"
"Lyn...dis...is...th...at...you."
He shes a tear at the sight of Lyndis while she jumps out and lands right in his arms.
"Father..."
Says Lyndis while weeping.
"Lyndis..."
"Father..."
Oh now they're full on crying.